Users Guide

Assigning an IP Address to a Port Channel
You can assign an IP address to a port channel and use port channels in Layer 3 routing protocols.
To assign an IP address, use the following command.
• Congure an IP address and mask on the interface.
INTERFACE mode
ip address ip-address mask [secondary]
• ip-address mask: enter an address in dotted-decimal format (A.B.C.D). The mask must be in slash format (/24).
• secondary: the IP address is the interface’s backup IP address. You can congure up to eight secondary IP addresses.
Deleting or Disabling a Port Channel
To delete or disable a port channel, use the following commands.
• Delete a port channel.
CONFIGURATION mode
no interface portchannel channel-number
• Disable a port channel.
shutdown
When you disable a port channel, all interfaces within the port channel are operationally down also.
Load Balancing Through Port Channels
Dell Networking OS uses hash algorithms for distributing trac evenly over channel members in a port channel (LAG).
The hash algorithm distributes trac among Equal Cost Multi-path (ECMP) paths and LAG members. The distribution is based on a ow,
except for packet-based hashing. A ow is identied by the hash and is assigned to one link. In packet-based hashing, a single ow can be
distributed on the LAG and uses one link.
Packet based hashing is used to load balance trac across a port-channel based on the IP Identier eld within the packet. Load balancing
uses source and destination packet information to get the greatest advantage of resources by distributing trac over multiple paths when
transferring data to a destination.
Dell Networking OS allows you to modify the hashing algorithms used for ows and for fragments. The load-balance and hash-algorithm
commands are available for modifying the distribution algorithms.
Changing the Hash Algorithm
The load-balance command selects the hash criteria applied to port channels.
If you do not obtain even distribution with the load-balance command, you can use the hash-algorithm command to select the
hash scheme for LAG, ECMP and NH-ECMP. You can rotate or shift the 12–bit Lag Hash until the desired hash is achieved.
The nh-ecmp option allows you to change the hash value for recursive ECMP routes independently of non-recursive ECMP routes. This
option provides for better trac distribution over available equal cost links that involve a recursive next hop lookup.
To change to another algorithm, use the second command.
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Interfaces